The Diverse Bookshelf
Welcome to The Diverse Bookshelf. I’m Samia Aziz, celebrating the power of literature and the voices of authors and change makers from the global majority. Join me as we explore the stories that inspire, connect, and transform our world. Each week I interview an inspiring guest about a whole host of themes and issues while focusing on diverse literature.
Let’s uncover the stories that truly matter—together.
The Diverse Bookshelf
Fatin Abbas on Sudan, objectivity & unrecognised history
Fatin Abbas was born in Khartoum, Sudan, but her parents were forced to leave Sudan when the military seized power there in 1989, when Fatin was just 8 years old. The family settled in New York. She earned a BA in English literature from the University of Cambridge, a PhD in Comparative Literature from Harvard University, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Hunter College, the City University of New York.
Her novel, Ghost Season is an exploration of Sudan’s almost unrecognised history, through five vibrant and interesting characters who find themselves working for an NGO in a border town between north and south Sudan. It is a really powerful story of power dynamics, colonialism, history, love, friendship, identity, belonging, self-acceptance and so much more.
After more than 16 months of war, Sudan has descended into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The country is at imminent risk of collapsing after over a year and a half of violent conflict and is on the verge of mass famine with its food supply decimated and young children now starving to death in its cities, villages, and displacement camps. Over 10 million people have been displaced, and every single person in Sudan is affected by this worsening crisis.
I hope this conversations helps us to keep Sudan in our thoughts, hearts, mind, prayers and in our activism always.
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